


Rival Syndrome

by konpeito_galaxy



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Drabble, Drabble Collection, Fanart, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Relationship, Some Spoilers, Tattoos, Tumblr Prompt, some prompts are canon; some are AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-18 08:50:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konpeito_galaxy/pseuds/konpeito_galaxy
Summary: It's less of a relationship and more of a 'work-in-progress'. A collection of drabbles written for submitted prompts.Drabble 1 prompt: Have you heard the one about Kaito having a crush on Kokichi? (canon compliant)Drabble 2 prompt: Kaito gets a tattoo for personal reasons (HPA non-despair AU)





	1. Welcome to the Bleeder's Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a collection of drabbles I wrote for prompts on tumblr so if you recognize them, there's a reason for that! Not sure how I ended up doing these, but it's become a fun little hobby and I figured it was high time to archive them properly. Apparently I'm in this fandom now?
> 
> This chapter's prompt: "Have you heard the one about Kaito having a crush on Kokichi?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love crushes in their infancy, whoops. This is very 'blink and you'll miss it.'

When Kaito entered the bathroom, he expected solitude and silence. What he received was the bizarre image of Kokichi perched cheerfully on the counter, legs swinging to a hidden rhythm and a diadem of half-dried blood adorning his head.

  
“Yo!” he said, saluting cheerfully, and his head seemed to bob oddly as he did. “Welcome to… t-to the ‘Bleeding Hearts Club’! Well, I’m thinking about shortening it to the, uh, the ‘Bleeders' Club’ - f-felt like it was a bit… t-too niche before…”

  
Kaito’s eyes raked over the scene: the filled sink dotted with pink, the crumpled and stained paper towels on the floor. His throat itched and, slightly hoarse, he said, “Didn’t you hear the announcement? We gotta get down to the trial grounds.”

  
“Hmmm?” Kokichi’s upper body weaved in odd patterns, like a top finishing its final rotations. “M-Monokuma said… I can take a few minutes t-to… clean myself up before the trial…. so everyone has a fair chance, you know?”

  
And then he lurched dangerously forward, flashing one of his trademark grins that seemed to split his face into shadow and light. “Buuuut that’s a lie! I’ve just been lying in wait for the perfect chance to kill you - !”

  
The delivery of the line was perfect, and his expression barely wavered - but, like his strings were cut, Kokichi’s body pitched forward and Kaito’s moved with it, arms outstretched before he even had a moment to think.

  
His ungraceful landing on Kaito forced the air out of his lungs violently and he coughed, loud and wet. Hit again too hard, he thought in a daze, and he buried the side of him that knew the human body medically and was sounding alarm bells in his head. That part of him would be better utilized concentrating on the pale mess in his arms; the one who laughed freely like he didn’t have a care in the world.

  
Kaito let out a few choice curse words as Kokichi’s laughter subsided, and it was entirely by chance that he caught the other’s eye.

  
“My hero,” he simpered, and Kaito’s anger flared with the colour in his cheeks.

  
“I’ll drop you,” he warned.

  
“Hmmm…. that would be really… really, _super_ bad for me! But is Momota-chan really the type of person who would do that?”

  
No, he wasn’t. He couldn’t be - not if he wanted to be the support and leader for everyone around him. His sidekicks needed him to be that person. But whenever Kokichi got involved, quietly getting under his skin, there was something about him that always just -

  
He felt something brush along his chin and Kaito nearly did drop him in surprise.

  
“Killer Girl really got you good, huh?” The offending thumb hovered in the air between them. Traces of blood - his blood - coloured the pad of it. “Guess you’re part of my club now. I-I insist - I simply won’t take no for an answer.”

  
“Jeez, you’re annoying -”

  
Kaito squawked as Kokichi’s foot none-too-gently lodged itself in his cheek, and the white ball of limbs unfurled itself into an unsteady standing position.

  
Kokichi rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, first hesitantly, and then with the grand energy of a leader reborn. He still wasn’t quite right, Kaito noted, rubbing where his face now ached - his gaze didn’t seem as sharp as it had been last trial, when it had been trained on him with a laser-focus - but he was better than before. He would have to be. There was no way Monokuma would wait much longer for them to show up.

  
“As nice as it would be to spend more time with you, we really ought to wash up and get a move on!” He leaned over to the full sink and splashed water towards him. Somehow the move walked the tightrope of being both playful and menacing, and Kaito scrambled backwards to avoid it. “The Supreme Leader and his ~saviour~ need to be in top shape for the trial! Our dearest detective needs us, after all!”

  
“Of course I’m not going to leave my sidekick alone!” The idea of it alone sent him jumping to his feet, and he pushed past Kokichi to clean off his face. He paused, hands half-submerged, and then held them out to the other. “Here. Just like you said. Gotta wash up.”

  
The grin on his face smoothed over, and Kokichi peered with sharp eyes at the offered hands.

  
“It’s just fucking water, man.” Dusty-pink water that brought up memories from the last trial, but he chose not to comment on that. “It’s not gonna bite.”

  
Just like that, that same mischievous grin that promised havoc curved across his face again. “Alright. A truce then. For now.”

  
They washed their faces in silence, and when they finished, they walked together towards the trial grounds. And if Kokichi’s gait betrayed the slightest wobble, Kaito’s arm was there to steady him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did you know that at the trial grounds in chapter 3 kaito is right behind kokichi -


	2. Kaito's got a new tattoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Kaito disappears for a week and no one knows where he went, when he returns it turns out he was getting a galaxy tattoo. Little does everyone know he got it to cover some scars."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My brain: so Oumota then -
> 
> I actually made an image to go along with this just for fun, if you're interested in the tattoo in question. It’s at the bottom of the post because it’s a bit weird (like Kaito) and I kinda made it up on the fly (like Kaito).

The altercation started, as these things often did, over a game of hoops. Specifically school-mandated hoops, which is why Miu had gotten so close to Kaito in the first place - all it had taken was his shirt riding up his back as he attempted a wild lay-up he’d seen a celebrity do on TV and failed. So many mistakes in such a small space of time, Kaito reflected as he felt the spray of spittle already wetting his back. It was actually quite incredible.

As he landed hard on the flats of his feet and cursed the ball’s (frankly, insulting - there was no way his shot had been that bad) trajectory, he heard a sharp inhale of breath behind him.

“ _Momota’s_ _got_ _a_ _tramp_ _stamp!_ ”

Aw, shit.

“It’s not a -“ He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t even bring himself to dignify her statement by repeating it. “It’s just a taste of the universe! It’s like wearing my dream on my back!”

He twisted around to find the entire game on hold and bursts of chatter among his classmates. Tenko, who had managed to swallow her normal bias against his sex long enough to be his reliable small-forward, looked at him like he had grown a second head and it, too, was male.

“C’mon,” he pleaded, “seriously? It’s just a tattoo.”

“Degenerate,” she shot back, and Miu howled with laughter beside her. “You made all of the girls worry about you when you disappeared for a week!” As an afterthought, she added: “And some of the boys, too!”

A heavy hand clapped him on the shoulder and his knees nearly buckled. “Oh, Kaito was absent just for tattoo?” Kaito smiled weakly back at the bespectacled face beaming down at him. “Thank goodness!”

“It’s really not a big deal.” Everyone who had been on the court gathered around him and those on the bench soon followed. Normally he loved having the spotlight on him, but Kaito had come up with a grand plan for the great unveiling and this was nothing like it.

“Wow, I never expected you to get something like this. Did it hurt?”

“A flashy tattoo for a flashy guy, huh.”

“A whole week away? Seems like too much effort for something like that -”

“On the contrary, a week for recovery time seems quite fortunate. There are even some cultures in which the process of tattooing takes place over several weeks, to say nothing of the recovery time -”

“Ah, the design turned out so wonderfully! What a blessing for you, praise be -”

“Didja like having some guy’s hands all over your body? Man, I always thought Beta-hara was the masochist, but maybe it was you the whole ti -”

“That’s enough,” said Kirumi from outside of the crowd, and a reluctant hush fell over them. As the assigned referee of their game and the gym teacher’s chosen stand-in, she wielded more authority today than usual. “We can call the game now.”

There were a few whines of protest with the majority from Tenko, whose very honour apparently depended on the results of the game. Kirumi waved them all off with her usual unflappable demeanor. Kaito noted that despite how her hands were folded and her posture was poised in her usual manner, there seemed to be a rare hint of amusement in her voice. Her eyes rested on him for the briefest moment; there was no doubt in his mind that she had noticed much earlier than the rest of his class but, as expected of her, had said nothing of it. “It seems everyone is thoroughly distracted, and class will be ending soon anyway. Please return to the locker rooms and allow me to put away all the equipment. We have a scant twenty minutes before our next class.”

“I’ll help,” he said quickly as the rest of his classmates broke off into small chattering groups and moved to their respective locker rooms. He saw Maki in particular lingering outside of the doors for a few extra moments, shooting him a look that was either dangerous or annoyed. He quickly ducked down to grab one of the spare basketballs that had rolled under the bench, and when he straightened Kaede had already pulled her, giggling, into the girl’s room. He was going to get an earful later for sure.

Well, maybe if he gave her some time to sit on it, she’d come around to appreciate how cool the tattoo looked on him! There was no way she could deny that much!

… If nothing else, Shuichi would appreciate how heroic it made him look. That thought at least bolstered his spirits.

“Alright, that should be good!” A glance at the gymnasium clock told him ten minutes had passed - plenty of time for the locker room to have been vacated. He shot Kirumi a thumbs-up from across the gym. “You can take it from here, Kirumi!”

She looked at the fifteen stray basketballs still littered across the gym, then at him, nodded wordlessly in thanks, and bid him adieu.

First thing was first - Kaito stuck his head into the boy’s locker room and scoured it for signs of life. There was water pooling around the shower floors and the mirrors were still fogged, but it seemed that everyone was gone. If he was entirely honest, he had some mixed feelings on this. He wouldn’t have been entirely against it if Shuichi had been waiting for him, but it seemed his sidekick had gone along ahead with everyone else.

He nudged the door open with his foot and, with one last glance around the room, stripped his shirt and tossed it onto the bench. Now that he was on his own, he could swear as much as he pleased about his current situation and he did freely - this son of a bitch was itchy. He tapped the small of his back, chuckling to himself at the thought of his hands dancing the same way Kaede’s did across the piano, and reached for the moisturizer he had stashed away in the back of his cubby behind his favourite kabuki-print shirt and jacket -

It wasn’t… there. He frowned and felt for the disc-shaped container he had become incredibly familiar with over the past few days. Kaito could have sworn he had left it there. No. He had definitely left it there.

“Didn’t think you were the type to cover up your battle scars.”

Rather than give the owner of that familiar, snide voice the satisfaction of whirling around and confronting him, Kaito hung his head for a moment and breathed in deeply. Shuichi was right - it really did wonders for his short patience.

“Honestly though, what is that supposed to be? Some kinda dumb space-bird?”

“Okay, first of all it’s fuckin’ symbolic, okay?” Sure enough, when he turned, there was Kokichi laying across the bench and flipping his moisturizer over in his hands like it was a shiny new toy. “Angie said it was supposed to be, like, representative of space travel and freedom and adventure. It’s an abstract metaphor, damn it!”

“Not sure if that’s how all of those words are supposed to work, Momota-chan - but kudos to you for trying to use them, I guess.” Without warning, he tossed the container over to Kaito, who barely caught it with the tips of his fingers.

“Where were you even hiding, you brat? The room was definitely empty -”

“The Supreme Leader’s gotta have some secrets,” said Kokichi with a crooked smile. “Same as an astronaut, apparently.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean, huh?”

Kokichi leveled him with a look that screamed, ‘are you serious?’ Kaito held his gaze defiantly, challenging him to bring them back up again.

“I’ve got a bunch of stretch marks, I wanted to cover’em up. There’s nothing else to it.”

“… Well, then. If _that’s_ the official cover story, than who am I to argue?”

Kokichi pushed himself off the bench in a single languid movement and, before Kaito had a chance to protest, had gotten behind him to peer at the tattoo in question.

“This long feather,” he said, tracing a cold, wet finger along his side and causing Kaito to let out an undignified yelp, “is just so conveniently placed over where you fell back on the cement rising, you know?” As if reading Kaito’s wild, uneasy questions straight out of his mind, he reached around and showed off the chunk of moisturizer in the center of his palm. “And this supernova thing - whatever it’s called Momota-chan, don’t interrupt me, I really don’t care that much - it’s just really interesting how it happened to get placed over those scrapes you got when you saved me from that nasty fall a few months ago, you know? I just _love_ lucky coincidences like that.”

  
It was colder, and the feeling was so much stranger, when the lotion was applied by someone else. Kaito braced himself for the other side but still shivered when the cold spread across his lower back in unpredictable movements.

“ _Anyway_ ,“ Kokichi drawled after a minute or so, and Kaito let out an audible sigh when he felt both hands lift off his his back, “make sure you take good care of that thing. Looks like you’ve mostly gotten past that flaky stage, which is good, because the only one your dear Killer Girl should be calling a snake around here is me.”

“Since when did you know so much about tattoos?” It hadn’t been felt safe to speak before for whatever reason, though Kaito himself couldn’t understand why.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about things you don’t need to know.”

Kaito felt around the tattoo carefully to ensure the entire area had been cared for. It had been, and he was surprised at how unsurprising that was. Dressing himself and stuffing the moisturizing lotion back into his bag, Kaito called to Kokichi before he had a chance to leave and was annoyed by how hesitant he sounded when doing so.

“Y’didn’t have to stick around to check up on me. I’ll see you in the next class, then?”

Kokichi made a face. “It’s called payback, and it is revenge for making a fool out of me in your attempt to be ~heroic~. Don’t ascribe your romanticized fantasies to my evil intentions.” The door was promptly shut between them and he heard Kokichi call from the other side of the door, “And in case I didn’t make it clear before, I still think your tattoo looks super dumb.”

“Yeah, sure.” The image burned hot and cold against his skin, along with the feeling of a phantom hand running alongside it. There were still a good five minutes before the next class started, and Kaito was ready aside from his physical absence, so he took a moment to collect himself.

“Thanks,” he finally said to the empty room, and his own voice echoed back at him, distorted, “and you’re welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I mentioned when I originally posted this on tumblr, I decided to do an anatomy study when I was mulling over the tattoo! And I, uh, got carried away. It did let me cheat when it came to describing it in the drabble though, ha ha ~
> 
>  


End file.
